Detroit City Wire

The Detroit Red Wings faced a tough setback in their pursuit of a playoff spot, falling just short of overcoming the Ottawa Senators with a score of 4-3 at Little Caesars Arena. The Red Wings, unable to capitalize on home advantage, slipped to 33-33-6, with 72 points, while the Senators improved to 38-28-5, sitting at 81 points.

"Home ice is big for us with the crowd behind us," Lucas Raymond commented on the missed chance. "We haven’t been good enough [at home], and we know it. It’s about taking care of those opportunities and building off it."

A key factor that contributed to the Red Wings' defeat was their power play struggles, managing only one goal from six opportunities. "We have five power plays in the first 22 minutes of the game and don’t score," observed Detroit's head coach Todd McLellan. "The other goaltender starts to feel real good and you wonder if it will ever happen."

The Senators quickly capitalized on their opportunities, with Thomas Chabot and Tim Stutzle propelling them to an early 2-0 lead. The game saw increased physicality, epitomized by a tussle between Simon Edvinsson and Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk. "I think we needed that spark," Edvinsson remarked, reflecting on his altercation.

Despite falling behind 3-0 in the second period, Detroit showed resilience. Patrick Kane put the Red Wings on the board with a power-play goal at the start of the third period. Goals from Raymond and Vladimir Tarasenko narrowed the gap, but Ottawa held firm with goalie Linus Ullmark saving 31 shots.

The loss leaves the Red Wings three points behind the Montreal Canadiens for the second Wild-Card spot, despite the Canadiens’ own defeat.

Assessing the game, Raymond noted, "Getting pucks in net and building off of that...we made a hell of a push, but we didn’t put ourselves in a good enough position coming into the third [period] to get it done."

Looking forward, Raymond expressed commitment to improvement, "We’re going to do everything in our power to get there, but it’s about digging, getting it done and keeping that belief in ourselves."

Echoing this sentiment, Edvinsson acknowledged the gravity of their current situation. "Every loss is pretty hard right now. Everybody knows how important every game is."